3rd August 2012

The ECB's unfulfilled promises

On Thursday, August 3rd, European Central Bank’s Governing Council met in Frankfurt to talk about the recent development in the euro area as well as about the measures that should be taken to improve worsening situation and calm down markets. After Mario Draghi’s speech in London just a few days ago, when he claimed that the ECB will do “whatever it takes” to save the common currency, markets as well as countries have been expecting a decisive and aggressive action by the ECB.

However, the conclusions of the meeting were rather disappointing. No change in key ECB interest rates has been announced and no decision has been made also in the most important question – whether the ECB should start buying bonds of troubled economies. Meanwhile, the German constitutional court postponed its decision on the ESM case to September. The decision on whether the new permanent stability mechanism is consistent with German constitution is crucial, since the fund cannot fully operate without German approval.

For more information, click here.

Members of the American Chamber of Commerce in the Czech Republic